Thursday, February 18, 2016

General RPGs' AMVs 13

Oh quit griping, I haven’t done one of these in like a year.

FINAL FANTASY

Final Fantasy 10: This is War, by Argol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlxZ5RdJSs0&
The music is This is War, by 30 Seconds to Mars. Oh God, 30 Seconds to Mars...by this point, this crappy song by this crappy band may be the most overused AMV tune ever. Ugh. At least overused Linkin Park songs are actually good songs; this stupid song was crap the first time I heard it, and hundreds of repeat listens does not improve it. Nonetheless, I have to say, this is one of those nearly unheard of instances where a This is War AMV is actually good. The editing is good, the video keeps up with the music adequately, everything matches up to the song well, and the selection for which characters represent which person mentioned in the song is actually creative and thoughtful...which is not at all common for a 30 Seconds to Mars AMV, let me tell you. This is basically the AMV that all the other This is War AMVs want to be.

JADE EMPIRE

Jade Empire: Last Ninja 3, by KlosterKatt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L0wz-_uO_c
The music used is from the soundtrack for Last Ninja 3. Nothing amazing here, but still quite decent. The game footage works well with the feel of the music, the scene selection generally keeps up with the tone of the song, and overall this is fun to watch.

KINGDOM HEARTS

Kingdom Hearts 1 + 2: Pompeii, by Mimi-Chan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sc12LWSlJY
The music used is Pompeii, by Bastille. There’s not a lot to say on this one. It’s basically the sort of video you think of when you think of a standard, but well made, AMV. Good editing that works with the music and video, scenes that coordinate well with the lyrics and/or tune of the song, not really any depth or meaning to convey but an overall enjoyable experience that reminds you pleasantly of the game and its characters.

Kingdom Hearts: 368/2 Days: The Lonely, by xXBethanyFryeXx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8NfRtpdJAM
The music used is The Lonely, by Christina Perri. While this song goes on longer than the footage can really maintain interest for, and it’s pushing a less than sensible romantic pairing, this is generally a good AMV that connects the song well to Xion. In fact, as far as characterizing Xion and making her a minimally appealing character, I’d say that this AMV does a hell of a better job than the actual game did...not that that’s saying much. All the same, it’s good enough to check out.

Kingdom Hearts Series: A Light That Never Comes, by Fleur-dRhae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Hr3B06xZE
The music used is A Light That Never Comes, by Linkin Park. Kingdom Hearts and Linkin Park: the most overused video and audio components of RPG AMVs ever. But, well, overused or not, this is a darned good AMV (the song itself is one of LP’s newer ones, I’m told, so it’s not actually overused yet, anyway). The scene selection and editing is high quality, the video works darned well with the music on several levels, and everything just feels smooth and natural together. Good stuff!

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: Combat Ready, by Siphano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZkLD8mBqJk
The music used is Musique au Piano Nostalgique, by Herboristerie, and then Combat Ready, by Extreme Music. TLoZSS makes a better match to the heavy Combat Ready than you might think, and the AMV creator knows how to really capitalize on both the game and the music, matching pulses and tone skillfully to the game footage to make a pretty awesome trailer-styled AMV that makes Skyward Sword out to be pure, epic badassery.

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU

The World Ends with You: XXI, by Antifrost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfUCazmOfc4
The music used is XIX, by Slipnot. This kind of music doesn’t usually make for particularly good AMVs (proportionately speaking, I mean; bad AMVs drastically outnumber good ones no matter what music genre you look at), but when combined with The World Ends with You’s bare animations and sequential art format, the heavy, nearly discordant notes and vocals are absolutely perfect. The song also connects very well to the game’s visuals and the story behind them, and the general feel of the music is a great match to the urban setting and style of the game. Great stuff; I actually considered making this AMV a rant all on its own.

(Also, it should be mentioned that the title, XXI, is not a typo of the song name (XIX). As explained in the video description, which I don’t know if everyone always reads, XIX = 19, which is an anagram for XXI, XXI = 21, and there are 21 days in The World Ends with You. Neat!)

XENOBLADE CHRONICLES

Xenoblade Chronicles 1: This is War, by Alf Productions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWRbLZQhMYk
The music used is...sigh. It’s This is War, by 30 Seconds to Mars. Again. Trust me, no one is more annoyed with this than myself. I’m so damn tired of this overused piece of garbage. And twice in the same AMV rant! Damn it, people, use your talent for GOOD music! Or at least music that sucks less! Oh, well...anyway, this is, unfortunately, a very solid AMV, and I can’t ignore that. The editing is done well, the match between visual and lyrics is skillful and actually works...it’s just a case where the AMV creator thought about the song as a whole, not just which characters to match up to which group the song mentions, and that consideration paid off with a strong, well made video.

Everyone's always so mean about these rants. I think having a compilation of the really good RPG AMVs out there is neat! Ah, well.

Anyway, oh yeah, I remember that video. That thing was neat. Saw it years ago, back when it was new. That definitely deserves a spot on one of these rants. I'll put it in the next rant, next year or whenever I find another 8 good AMVs. Thanks!

I don't know if there is a lot to rant on since it's mostly just instrumental music on a high-quality animation (well, unless you find a translation of Tales of the Abyss's Japanese lyrics and see how they fit for FF7).

Steam gave me a 75% off coupon for Valkyria Chronicles (which I hear is a strategy RPG with a setting with a setting inspired by World War 2) and others weren't interested in it, so do you want the coupon?

Wow. That's really generous of you. Well, one of my old writing/RPGing/BeingJadeding buddies was always going on about that game and how great it was, so I suppose this would be one of those "opportunity knocking" things. Yeah, I'll take that coupon. Thanks, sir, you're a real swell fella!

Well, Steam requires both participants in a trade to add each other as friends and for both to be on at the same time for a trade (coupons can't be given via Steam's standard gifting method for some odd reason), so, uh... it'd be useful if you'd accept my friend request.